Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
Pride weekend in Eugene was both a celebration and an act of resistance. Despite familiar evangelical disruptions at Saturday’s kickoff rally, a new security strategy helped organizers move the day forward, safely and in a full expression of pride.
More than a hundred people rallied and marched Saturday in downtown Eugene — proudly for themselves, for people they love, for a community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer individuals.
But for many in this LGBTQ+ community — many of whom reject binary norms and embrace fluidity — Pride isn’t just a celebration. It’s multifaceted: a way to honor those who blazed the trail before and keep their movement alive. It’s about celebrating beauty and fighting oppression, speaker Selina Soray explained in Kesey Square.
“Never forget that Pride was born out of this struggle,” she said, referencing leaders such as Marsha P. Johnson, a prominent figure in the historic Stonewall uprising that began on the same day in 1969. That uprising sparked days of protest and is widely credited with igniting the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
“The struggle is a school where we can learn from one another and build a movement for queer and trans liberation,” she said.
While Eugene has come a long way in supporting its LGBTQ+ community, speakers said everyday discrimination still persists. That was evident as the speakers raised their voices above two or three evangelical men, who shouted anti-LGBTQ+ messages through a portable speaker system at the rally.
Minh, who said he was a Catholic street preacher, speaks to attendees outside the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025, as a festival volunteer holds a sign urging passersby not to engage. Festival staff use the signs as part of a broader strategy to de-escalate potential confrontations with outside demonstrators. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Dr. Kyle Kurzet, left, primary care physician and executive director, and Bella Jones, president of Transition Health, staff the nonprofit clinic’s booth during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Transition Health, based in Eugene, has provided transgender and gender-diverse primary care for the past four years. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Bird, who works at the High Priestess tattoo studio’s campus location, speaks with a visitor at the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. The High Priestess booth featured pride-themed merchandise and community outreach during the daylong celebration. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Cloud, lead vocalist of the Eugene-based band Cloud Out Loud, performs on stage during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. The band was among several local acts featured at the daylong celebration of LGBTQ+ community and culture. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Brooks McLain, board president of Eugene/Springfield Pride, stands in front of a hand-sewn community pride flag during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. “This is the moment where it’s all worth it,” said McLain, now in his fourth year leading the board during the festival’s 33rd year and its first at the Lane Events Center. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Dr. Kyle Kurzet, primary care physician and executive director of Transition Health, greets a visitor at the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Transition Health is a nonprofit clinic in Eugene that has provided transgender and gender-diverse primary care for the past four years. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Landon Shimek, left, a transgender U.S. Army Reserve staff sergeant, speaks on stage alongside event host Sadie Jayne during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Shimek designed a challenge coin honoring LGBTQ+ military service. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Ethan Bross, 23, a student and U.S. military veteran, folds T-shirts at the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs booth during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Bross, who supports LGBTQ+ inclusion in the military, is part of the department’s outreach team. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Dr. Kyle Kurzet, left, primary care physician and executive director, and Bella Jones, president of Transition Health, staff the nonprofit clinic’s booth during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Transition Health, based in Eugene, has provided transgender and gender-diverse primary care for the past four years. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
A challenge coin designed by U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Landon Shimek, right, lies next to Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs dog tags at the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. “It’s making a difference in people’s lives,” said Shimek, a transgender soldier who created the coin to honor LGBTQ+ military service. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Attendees gather in the main event hall during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. The festival occupied two large indoor spaces and an outdoor area, marking its first year at the new venue. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Sadie Jayne, host of the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival, addresses the crowd during the event at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Saturday, June 28, 2025. Jayne led the day’s entertainment and stage programming at the festival’s new indoor venue. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
A 30-by-20-foot hand-sewn community pride flag hangs on display during the Eugene-Springfield Pride Festival at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. The quilt, created over the course of a year by local artist JD Terrapin and dozens of community members, replaces a stolen section of the original mile-long Rainbow Flag and stands as a new symbol of resilience and solidarity. Credit: Max Unkirch / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
People march from Kesey Square to Lane Events Center as part of Eugene Pride. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
A band leads the Eugene Pride march from Kesey Square to Lane Events Center. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Eugene Pride workers and volunteers try and de-escalate tense conversations between Pride goers and evangelical protesters. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield 
Eugene Pride attendees hold signs in front of evangelical protesters as volunteers form a barrier between the two groups. 
Selina Soray speaks during Pride rally to a crowd torn between her speech and that of an evangelical protest, June 28, 2025. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
It’s not the first time evangelical protests have interrupted events near the Saturday Market, often using amplification at a level prohibited by city code.
They have had an unwelcome presence for years at Eugene Pride, which played into the decision to move the festival from Alton Baker Park – where it’s been held for decades – to Lane Events Center. Safety became “unmanageable,” said Jordin McDowell, board member of Eugene Pride.
“And we didn’t have a lot of support from the Eugene Police Department,” McDowell said.
This year, Eugene Pride hired a private security team and trained volunteers in de-escalation strategies. Wearing pink “Rainbow Guard” shirts, those volunteers formed a barrier around the evangelical men, who declined to be interviewed or provide their names.
“It was really intense for a little bit, but we were able to control it more,” said McDowell. “That gives us our power back.
“The opportunity to come together and exist and be seen together, regardless of what the rest of the world believes about us or thinks about us, this is our actual time to shine.”
The day quite literally marched forward — to the beat of their own drums — as a band led the crowd from Kesey Square to the Lane Events Center, where the celebration continued.
